In U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,006, a stud mounting clip is described and which is useful in the construction of buildings, and particularly light commercial buildings. The teachings of this patent are incorporated by reference herein. As described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,006, it is not uncommon for buildings to settle on their foundations once constructed. This settling of the building can cause damage to the surrounding foundation and to interior structures such as floors and the like as exterior walls go out of plumb. Yet further, in the construction of certain light commercial buildings it is not uncommon for the exterior walls and frames of the building to be manufactured from materials having different coefficients of expansion from that of the exterior sheathing of the structure. With the exposure of the building to extremes of temperature, gaps are often produced in the exterior sheathing panels, thereby allowing cold air and moisture to enter the structure.
Various slide clips of assorted designs have been suggested through the years, an example of two related slide clip arrangements are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,720,571 and 5,467,566, the teachings of which are also incorporated by reference herein.
While these prior art patents, noted above, and the teachings associated therewith have operated with some degree of success, shortcomings have remained in the use of these prior art clip arrangements. Among the chief difficulties associated with these assemblies is that most of the prior art assemblies have been designed for use in supporting construction members, and the like, and which move generally in a vertical direction relative to a supporting stud. Moreover, and as outlined more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,571, many of the prior art clips do not provide the necessary off-set required to accommodate the flange thickness of studs and as a result the clips are not installed flush to the surface of any supporting surface that it is being installed on. As a result, welds or mechanical fasteners are required to bridge the resulting gap and consequently their holding values are not as predictable as those made when surface-to-surface contact is maintained in the installation of same.
Therefore, a mounting clip which is useful in the construction of various buildings and which overcomes the shortcomings attendant with the prior art devices and practices is the subject matter of the present application.